How an Attitude of Gratitude can Change Your Mindset

When you are trying to create a positive mindset, gratitude is one of the most valuable tools that you can use. Gratitude helps you flip the script on negative thinking by getting you to focus on the positive things that are already in your life.

There is research to suggest that gratitude can make you happier in the long run, if you practice gratitude even for a short time.

According to Harvard Health,

“In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”

This research shows that gratitude can make you happier in the long run, especially if you keep up with a daily gratitude practice.

In order to incorporate gratitude into your day, it helps if you write a gratitude list each day. You can get a gratitude journal and write down 3–5 things that you are grateful for in your life. Be as specific as possible.

Here are some examples of things you could write:

· I am grateful for my warm, safe home

· I am grateful for the way my dog greets me when I come home from work

· I am grateful to spend quality time with my family

· I am grateful for the way my children want to spend time with me

· I am grateful for a kind and loving partner

· I am grateful for my healthy body

· I am grateful for a job that provides for my family

These are just a few examples of things that you could be grateful for in your life. You can use some things from this list, or make up some of your own. If you start your day with gratitude, it can help you start thinking positively so that you are in a good mindset all day long.

If you write your list before bed, it can help you go to sleep better. You may also have more specific things to be grateful for that happened during the day as well. When you end the day with gratitude, it will help you be feeling positive when you go to sleep, and you will know all the good things that happened during the day.

Another way to show gratitude is by writing gratitude letters to people in your life who have made a positive impact on you and your life. You can send them these letters, or keep them for yourself to read through when you are feeling bad about things.

If you decide to send your gratitude letters, then it will help you pay your gratitude forward, so that you can make someone else happy with your gratitude practice as well. This is a great show of kindness for someone else, and can really make their day if you send the letter to show the impact that they have made on your life.

Another way to show gratitude to yourself and others is through using what is called a loving-kindness meditation. In this meditation, you will visualize yourself sitting with someone you love, and looking into their eyes.

Then, according to Mindful, you would say to them,

“Gently at your own pace, over and over, inwardly whispering, inwardly hearing, feeling, sensing, affirming: May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm. May I be happy and contented. May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible. May I experience ease of well-being.”

You would send this feeling of love and appreciation to the other person. After you have done this picturing someone who is easy to love, like a child perhaps, then you can do the practice again with other people in your life.

Finally, picture yourself sitting across from you. Look into your own eyes and say the mantra again. It may feel difficult at first, however it gets easier with time, the more you practice the meditation.

This meditation is a great way to show love and gratitude to the people in your life, like saying a little prayer for their wellbeing. It helps you open your heart to love, and to appreciate the people in your life more.

All of these ways to practice gratitude can help to make you happier and mentally healthier. You can try the gratitude journal, gratitude letters, and the loving-kindness meditation, and see what feels right for you. This way, you can incorporate gratitude into your daily life and experience all the benefits that gratitude has to offer you.